Dutch National Ballet

May 15, 2015

Is the ABT principal with the stress fracture going to dance on it or is she going to be replaced? Is McKenzie in a mad dash to bring in more guest artists to cover someone who is supposed to be a generic house ballerina or is he going to let Stella Abrera dance Giselle and Sarah Lane dance Swan Lake like he should? Are they going to dribble the changes throughout the week at the last minute to make certain that no one has an opportunity to exchange tickets and none of the deserving soloists have the opportunity to prepare? Guess what? Abrera and Lane are already prepared.

Full disclosure, please – and not at the last minute.

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Meanwhile, our glorious, much missed, world class Giselle, Yuriko Kajiya, will be reprising her signature role opposite the enormously talented Aaron Robison in a performance under the stars and moon Saturday night in Houston at the Miller Outdoor Theater with all of Houston Ballet. Normally I would wish that Jared would jump in as Hilarion, but since this is Aaron's Albrecht debut, that could be way too scary given Jared's intensity in that role and given who is dancing Giselle.

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Gelsey Kirkland Ballet presents Don Quixote again tonight and tomorrow night at the Schimmel Center at Pace University. You can be certain that it's going to be authentic and that everyone is going to be exceptionally well-schooled in style. Tickets available at http://schimmel.pace.edu/events/don-quixote

February 17, 2010

It’s good to see thatHerman Cornejo is finally getting the chance to dance Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. Who’s giving him that chance? Not Kevin McKenzie.

Angel Corella’s new El Lago De Los Cisnes, a Petipa/Ivanov based production with Corella’s own adaptations, will debut for his company,Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon, during the last week of February in Spain. Cornejo, a principal with that company, will dance the premiere with principal Adiarys Almeida. Here’s an art photo of the two by Manuel los de Galanes taken from the company’s website.

Come to think of it, Cornejo’s most frequent partner at ABT, Xiomara Reyes, does not dance Swan Lake with ABT even though she has experience dancing Odette/Odile with the Royal Ballet of Flanders.

So who is getting the opportunity to develop a Prince Siegfried this year? soloist Cory Stearns: someone who has never been tested with the Swan Lake Pas de Trois; someone whose Von Rothbart is under-developed and peters out at the end. When the company takes Swan Lake to Chicago in April, Chicagoans will be denied the opportunity to see one of the most magnificent Siegfrieds in the company,David Hallberg, while they are served up two helpings of Cory Stearns. Hope they appreciate that.

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It’s good to see that Sascha Radetsky is finally getting the chance to dance Basilio in Don Quixote. Who’s giving him that chance? Not Kevin McKenzie.

Radetsky has returned to theDutch National Ballet, where he spent last season as Principal, to dance the role of Basilio in Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote for three performances. During the fall, he partnered Paloma Herrera in the Don Q. PdD in Singapore. Unfortunately, his progress in ABT’s Don Q. seems to have rolled to a stop with his fiery, cape-snapping Espada. Here is Fabrizzio Ferri’s image:

So who is getting the opportunity to develop a Basilio this year? soloist Cory Stearns: someone who has never danced Espada; someone who was supposed to debut his Basilio in China during ABT‘s fall tour but had to withdraw suddenly due to illness or ill-preparedness or both. Two other principals and two soloists had to step in to save the day.

September 02, 2009

ABT announced today that Sascha Radetsky will return to the home team on January 1st. He spent last season in the European League's Dutch National Ballet pitching Albrecht and other principal roles.

Cheers were heard throughout the virtual land when the announcement was received – with good reason.

So why does it seem that Radetsky is turning into a ballet folk hero? A number of reasons. He's homegrown. He's a team player extraordinaire. He's had to struggle more than many for his achievements and has endured unfairness in a public arena. And even though we know there is greatness in him, we also know that there is plenty of struggle ahead for him as well. It just feels good to cheer for this guy.

March 25, 2009

To further torture us and make us suffer our loss, the Dutch National Ballet has planted on its website an 18 second video of its new principal, Sascha Radetsky, in his variation from the GiselleAct II confrontation with Myrta. Click on Radetsky's bio for the clip at www.het-nationale-ballet.nl/. Look at those brises and those seises that open to second before closing!

February 06, 2009

. . . rubbing coarse salt into our festering, stinging wound, the Dutch National Ballet has just cast its new principal, Sascha Radetsky, in his debut performances as Albrecht in Giselle on February 13,18, 21 and 28 in Amsterdam. No one deserves theopportunity more. Too bad we won't get to see it.